In order to implement China’s National Standardization Development Strategy, to further promote international standardization cooperation, to enhance the ability and level of domestic experts to participate in international standardization activities, to better serve the innovation and development of industries, and to carry out practical work for the people, SIST held a two-day training session on "Capacity Building Training on International Standardization" in Shenzhen and online from August 19th to 20th, 2021. The event was under the guidance of the Market Supervision Administration of Shenzhen, undertaken by the Shenzhen Institute of Standards and Technology and the British Standards Institution (BSI). Mr. Ash Green, First Secretary Trade Policy (Business Environment) of the British Embassy Beijing and the General Manager of the UK-China Business Environment Programme, along with Mr. Li Jun, a member of the Party Leadership and Deputy Director of the Market Supervision Administration of Shenzhen, and Mr. Chong Li, Director of the International Standards Cooperation Division of the Standard Innovation Management Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation as well as the main leaders of the Standards Division of the Market Supervision Administration of Shenzhen, and the Shenzhen Institute of Standards and Technology attended the event. The training activities also attracted a great number of experts from both the public and private sectors, companies and organizations to participate online.

In his speech, Deputy Director Li Jun first expressed his enthusiastic congratulations on the commencement of this training series and extended warm greetings to the organizers and experts attending the conference. He pointed out that Shenzhen attaches great importance to standardization work, and further put forward the development concept of "Shenzhen Standard" based on the successful practice of "Shenzhen Speed" and "Shenzhen Quality". Especially in recent years, Shenzhen has adhered to the "Shenzhen Standards" as a guiding principle, further improved the level of urban management, accelerated the construction of a modern, internationalized and innovative city as well as of an international technological and industrial innovation centre. Shenzhen promoted the construction of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone with high standards to continuously expand its innovative advantages and has reached a new level. At present, Shenzhen has gradually established a relatively complete standardization work mechanism in terms of system construction, capital guarantee, technology and talent support. The whole society has a strong sense and a strong atmosphere of participation in standard construction. In the meantime, he also expressed gratitude for the trust of the Standardization Administration of China. He will continue his mission working hard to build Shenzhen into a high ground for international standardization cooperation and exchanges.

Director Chong Li mentioned in his speech that this "Capacity Building Training on International Standardization" series is one of the planned activities of the UK-China Business Environment Programme, which is a programme that has achieved remarkable results in standard promotion work in the form of pilot projects, new international standard proposals, and international standardization capacity building training. It fully reflects the great importance that Shenzhen attaches to international standardization cooperation and exchanges, and it is also a demonstration of good practice on the UK-China bilateral standardization cooperation. It is hoped that Shenzhen will finish the UK-China Business Environment Programme with high quality, give full play to its role as a training base for international standardization talents, provide strong support for the cultivation and delivery of well-rounded international standardization talents, and better serve the innovation and development of the industry. Mr. Ash Green, the General Manager of the UK-China Business Environment Programme pointed out that this "Capacity Building Training on International Standardization” is one of the important sector activities of the UK-China Business Environment Programme’s Standards Strand. The programme covers 5 key areas, including Investment Environment, Intellectual Property Rights, Commercial Dispute Resolution, Anti-Money Laundering and International Standards. It aims to improve the business environment in China by improving the framework of laws and regulations and strengthening their implementation and compliance. Organizational Governance is also the most important sector of the project. On the one hand, the adoption of international standards in this sector has great potential. On the other hand, strengthening cooperation in the development and revision of international standards in Organizational Governance is also a common challenge for China and the UK.

During the training, Mr. Chris Brown, Resident Team Leader of the UK-China Business Environment Programme Standards Strand (BEP-S), Mr. Ren Yanbo, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of Standard Innovation Management Department, ISO, from the Standards Administration of China (SAC), Ms. Li Jia, Associate Researcher of China National Institute of Standardization (CNIS) and experts of ISO working group and a number of other experts respectively gave highly professional presentations on international standardization with their respective expertise.

In the final summary, Mr. Shi Shizhen, Director of the Standards Department of the Market Supervision Administration of Shenzhen, pointed out that in two days, the wonderful sharing of these senior experts was a tremendous opportunity of learning for representatives of various industries and standardization departments participating in the international standardization work. The opportunities to improve their professional skills will help to better serve the innovation and development of industries. He hoped that everyone learned something through this training, and would give full play to their strengths in future work, effectively participate in the city’s "Building Shenzhen Standards" action plan to help improve the city's standardization work in various sectors, to better serve Shenzhen’s "Dual District Drive” (“双区驱动”) development strategy, promote Shenzhen’s high-quality development, and contribute positive energy in these efforts.

This training event is one of the important activities in the UK-China Business Environment Programme - Standards Strand (BEP-S). The BEP-S responds to the reform work of the Chinese government on the standardization system to promote the adoption of international standards in China, cooperating in the development of international standards, and investigate the positive economic and social impact of the application of international standards in China. This training is also one of the important activities of the International Standards Talent Training Base (Shenzhen), which was endorsed by the Standards Administration of China. Its main work scope includes: launching international standardization capacity building training focused on domestic and international standards, implementing the "International Standardization Talent Training Plan (2016-2020), accelerating the building of China's international standardization talent team, and carrying out exchanges and capacity training on standardization ability improvement with countries along the Belt and Road. This will help lay a great foundation for the country's standardization talent base and standardization expert "think tank" in the future.

This article was published by the Shenzhen Institute of Standards and Technology and the original article can be found here.